GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The sky was dark over Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as both teams retook the field. The start of the second quarter had been postponed by a 47-minute lightning delay, with Florida already down 10-0. Head coach Billy Napier stood on the sideline, hands on hips, dressed in full black. It was a fitting harbinger for the funereal conditions.
He later donned a Gator-blue jacket once the skies opened, but it did little to shield the jeers that rained down during Florida’s 33-20 loss to Texas A&M.
“I just don’t think that we executed. … There’s mental errors, there’s fundamental mistakes,” Napier said afterward. “When we don’t have success and we don’t play quality football on Saturdays, it’s my responsibility.”
A game that took more than 4 1/2 hours with the delay felt like it was over much sooner. The Aggies, playing without injured starting quarterback Conner Weigman, outgained the Gators 302 yards to 73 in the first half, punctuated by a 99-yard touchdown drive late in the second quarter. Napier met a cascade of boos by the home fans as he ran off the field down 20-0 at halftime.
“When you play a certain way in this arena, you’re going to be criticized,” said Napier. “I probably would have done the same thing, truth be known.”
By the end, Florida had been outgained 488 to 301, including 310 rushing yards for the Aggies. Texas A&M redshirt freshman quarterback Marcel Reed threw for 178 yards and ran for another 83 in his first career start, accounting for three touchdowns. The Gators dropped to 1-2, and with Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, LSU and Ole Miss still left on the schedule, a season that only just started feels all but over.
Saturday’s loss could be Napier’s final straw following the humiliating 41-17 home loss to rival Miami to open the season. Just three games into his third year since being hired from Louisiana, Napier has a record of 12-16 at Florida and is 6-11 against SEC opponents. The Gators have lost seven in a row to FBS programs, four of those at home. The Swamp — where three national championship placards are prominently displayed and statues of Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, and Tim Tebow loom out front — has become a minor speed bump for road teams. Announced attendance for Texas A&M came in at 89,993, but plenty of Gators fans were filing out well before Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” blared through the loudspeakers at the end of the third quarter.
“This is one of those places where there’s history and tradition and expectations,” said Napier. “When you play ugly ball, it comes with the territory.”
Napier’s job status already hung by a thread entering the weekend. The last ray of hope was quarterback DJ Lagway, a five-star prospect in the 2024 class. After coming on late for an injured Graham Mertz in the loss to Miami, Lagway threw for 456 passing yards in last week’s win over Samford, the most by a true freshman in school history. A first-year ascendence by Napier’s prize recruit felt like a last-ditch chance to salvage things.
Instead, Lagway struggled against A&M’s much stiffer defense, completing just six of 13 passes for 54 yards. He had one touchdown and two interceptions, the second coming on a bad overthrow that sealed the loss late in the fourth quarter after the Aggies missed a field goal. Lagway split time with a healthy Mertz, who got the start and looked the more comfortable of the two, completing 12 of 15 passes for 195 yards, with one touchdown and one going the other way on a pick six.
Lagway’s talent is obvious, and he’ll have plenty more opportunities to grow and figure things out. Napier, however, doesn’t have that same luxury. Lagway’s potential isn’t enough to save his coach much longer, even if that means losing the QB to the transfer portal this offseason.
“Even if DJ Lagway is as good as Florida thinks he can be, can he overcome the coaching issues, a bad defense, the litany of problems we’ve seen?” said David Waters, host of the “Gators Breakdown” podcast. “I think I’ve seen enough to know that Billy Napier is not a championship-winning coach at Florida.”
It was clear Saturday that Napier has lost the diehards, many of whom are clamoring for Florida brass to go after Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin — perhaps unrealistically. But moving on from Napier has its own complications. The 45-year-old signed a $51.8 million contract through the 2028 season when he was hired in November 2021. His buyout, should he be fired this year, would be north of $26 million, half of which would be owed within 30 days, plus additional buyouts for the staff.
Such a costly decision won’t exactly reflect well on athletic director Scott Stricklin, who hired Napier as well as Florida’s previous coach, Dan Mullen, who Stricklin fired near the end of Mullen’s fourth season. The university is also without a permanent president following the controversial departure of former Nebraska senator and Florida alum Ben Sasse in July. Kent Fuchs, Sasse’s predecessor, is serving as interim president.
The Gators have been unable to replicate the title-winning heights of Spurrier’s “Fun n’ Gun” era during the 1990s and Urban Meyer’s six-year stint from 2005 to 2011. Moving on from Napier would make him the fourth coach Florida has fired since 2014, with none lasting four full seasons. The churn has become part of the problem, particularly during a stretch when rival Georgia emerged as the powerhouse of college football. But in an era when name, image and likeness and multi-time transfers make microwaving a rebuild much more attainable, at some point, not moving on from Napier could become the costlier option for the program.
“A lot of people argue that you can’t fire coaches every three or four years. But it’s not a firing problem — it’s a hiring problem,” said Waters. “It’s been a consistent issue since Urban Meyer left.”
After the game, Napier made a slow, field-length walk across the field. Fuchs was waiting under the goal posts, just as he did for the two prior games this season, where he and Napier shared a brief, solemn handshake. Behind them, a few fans lingered above the tunnel to voice their displeasure.
“We work extremely hard. We have good people. But this is a production business, and ultimately we’ve got to play better,” said Napier. “That’s my responsibility.”
After Florida’s performance on Saturday, that might not be the case much longer.
(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)
